The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management’s Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and CIPPM Member, Dr. Fabian Homberg presented their research on ‘Valuing the Public Domain’ – a collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow – on 5th December 2014, at Digital Catapult, London.

‘Valuing the Public Domain’ is a major research and knowledge exchange project carried out in collaboration with CREATe, University of Glasgow and is co-funded by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The purpose of the project is 1) to map the size of the public domain and frequency of its use; 2) analyse the role of public domain works in value creation for UK firms; and 3) assist UK media companies to identify business models that benefit from the public domain.

The half-day event brought together project researchers and transmedia businesses to explore and discuss the results of the study. During the discussions, a number of significant questions were addressed including (a) what does the availability and use of the rich tradition of public domain materials in this country mean for UK creative industries?; (b) how can SMEs and other businesses leverage the public domain effectively to generate value?; and (c) what are the emerging market trends and practices that will hinder or enable access to public domain materials in the future?

Following the event in December, the final report authored by Dr. Kris Erickson, Professor Paul Heald, Dr. Fabian Homberg, Professor Martin Kretschmer and Dr. Dinusha Mendis was published in March 2015 and can be accessed here.